Overview
Pietrzak was a Polish American who joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003. After a tour in Iraq as a helicopter mechanic, Pietrzak returned to the United States, where he met and married Jenkins, an African-American. Together, they owned and lived in a house in Winchester, a census-designated place in Riverside County, California, located near the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where Pietrzak worked.
On October 15, 2008, four African-American Marines entered the Pietrzak home, sexually assaulted Jenkins-Pietrzak and tortured the couple before killing them. Two of the four accused Marines worked under Pietrzak's command. Despite efforts to convey the event as being racially motivated, Riverside County authorities maintain the motivation was robbery, and the pending murder with special circumstances and sexual assault charges do not include an assertion that the crime was racially motivated. All four of the accused plead not guilty to murdering Pietrzak and his wife.
After meeting with the families of the deceased, District Attorney Rod Pacheco decided to seek the death penalty on January 22, 2009. The preliminary trial hearings to determine whether the four assailants would stand trial occurred on March 26, 2009, and April 3, 2009 in San Diego.
On 24 June 2013 a jury recommended the death penalty for two of the four assailants and life for a third.
Read more about this topic: Murder Of Jan Pawel And Quiana Jenkins Pietrzak